Manufacture of shoulder pads



April 27 1948.

K. KERRIGAN 2,440,548 MANUFACTURE OF' SHOULDER PADS Filed April 11, 1946 Invenlur, IKaU-l erine Kerr-i5 an Patented Apr. 2?, 1948 UNITED STATE S.

ATENT, ()FFICE 2,440,548 MANUFACTURE or sHoU nERPA-ns Katherine Kerrigan, averly, .N. Application "April 11, 1946, serial'no. 661,222

'3 Claims.

This invention relates to manufacture ofshoulder .pads'; and it comprises a shoulder pad of concavo-iconvex form having a point at one end with substantially straight sides merging into arounded base and adapted torest on the shoulder with thefip of the 'shoulderin'the concavity of'the pad and 'thepnint of the pad directed towardsthe base of the neck, said pad being advantageously free from direct attachment with the garment it serves "topad and having a non-skid upper surface which, when in contact with a garment, serves to hold the pad in position; said ,pad being usually constructed from two blanks o'f mommy fabric material, one of said blanks being substantially .in the shape of a new moon and the other being .of diamond shape with one corner'rounded,.said blanks being combined with the rounded corner of the diamond-shaped blank coinciding with the center of the concavity of the moon-shaped "blank and with adjacent corners and intermediate edges of both blanks joined it'o produce a concavo-convex form with a smoothly rounded con- 'vexity which rises sharply itrom :andlies close to said-base, at least one layer "of fillingm'alterial being incorporated The pad can alternatively 'be constructed of a f imaterialfsuch as sponge rubber, which can be molded to shape. .The invention alsoincludes a method of inakingthe described bad; all as more "fullyhereinaifter set forth and as claimed.

Shoulder .pads have, .or course, been used for ma'nyyears and many different types and forms have been proposed.- .Mo's't of these 'prior art shoulderlpadslhave lbe'en adab'ted for mens clothi'ing.and fewlhavebeen capable of use in ladies ms and ladies" shoulder padsha've dis-- :tinc'tively 'diifereh't regiiirements. For example,

' adapted to be waists, dresses, sweaters and the like, Ishould'be readily detachable from the garmen'ts softhat tneiattercan' be washed or cleaned. Wh'i'lea fiew..-ladis;'s shoulder-balls have been de-- scribed Whicharejnrovlded with detachable 'afeatures, .such as snap ifas'teners, these have .been trodblesoine "to operate and cumbersome.

I "have developed a shoulder a'a especially adaptedf'for use. in connection with ladies garmerits wl'lic'h'tendsftostay in place without slipp ng to such an exterit'thatitnormally requires having a pointalt .bneena'sns a smoothly rounded base at the other aii'diit "is adapted to rest Q11 jvide means "for scour 2 the 'shoulder with the top of the shoulder the concavity of the pad and the point of the pad directed towards the base ofthe neck. I have found that, if the top or this pe-d is constructed of some type of mm skid material, such as ootton or rayon net, jersey, doe skin, cotton wadding, sponge rubber or the like, "the friction against the garment is 'suificient to retain the pad in osition. It is usually desirable to pro- "mg *the pad to -'a shoulder strap, for example, but the "pad need not be attached or secured to the "garment which itserves to pad. This enablesthe garment to be removed or changed without removal of tl'i e shoulder pad garments themselvs "do not se uin; separate "padding. A single pair of pads canEt-herefore do "for several garments.

V in addition have found an advantageous method of malingthedescribed pads. g

My invention can j-beexplained-moreaccurately by reference to the accompanying drawing which shows, more or less diagrammatically, several views of my shoulderpad. In this showing,

Fig. 1 a plahWleW *Offi *Daitternused in cut- "ting out the materialsnsed-in ma'lr'ing one sodtion of my pad, V

Fig. 2is a plan view-of aseconwpattern usedin cutting out the materials for the other section oifthe pad, 1

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a pattern used in cutting out padding or filling materialnsedin making the'pad,

Fig. 4 is a plan "view of-anotherpattern used in cutting out filling material for the "pad,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of thecomp'leted pad,

Fig. :6 is a cross is'edt'ion'through the-centerof the pad, taken alongtheli-heii-t 01 'Fig. 5, vvhi'le I by like re?ference at one end and an arcua te Fig. 7 "is a similar ic'ross section or a shodified had formed of a"mo1ded'plasticmaterial.

In the various figureslikeqaarts/are designated numerals. My fcompletednad, as shown in Fig. 5, 'innlan view,-hasra-point l base -2 'at 'the other 'end. The rounded base is substantial-Hy circular in outline, while the-pointiis made'by twogsub- 'stantially straight edges which intersect at an angle of about 96i25Y, these edges being approximately tangential *to. the circnlarbase. Phe pad is convex on the top with the maximum convexity occurring close to theba'se, shown in. cross sectionin'Fi'g. 6. l tis concavefrom below witha shape which closely fits the tip of .llm'thickness occurs at approximately the point of maximum f'ignated A in Fig. 5.

convexity, so that the under side has less curvature than the top.

As shown in Fig. 6 I usually make my pad with up to 6 plies of material. A ply of cotton wadding or equivalent is shown on the top and bottom at 3 and 4, respectively. Two plies and 6 of unbleached muslin or equivalent material having a desired stiffness are placed beneath the top ply. And between these plies and the bottom ply there are two thicker layers 1 and 1a of filling material, such as cotton batting. The upper filling ply is smaller than the lower which is centered approximately at the point of greatest convexity.

V The pad of Fig. 5 is made by using the patterns shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for cutting out the top and bittom plies and the plies of unbleached muslin, and the patterns shown in Figs. 3 and 4 for cutting out the filling material used inmakin'g plies 1 and m, respectively.

It will be noted that the pattern of Fig. l is substantially diamond shape except that the base lines are slightly convex and the bottom point is rounded. The pattern of Fig. 2 has a shape 5 bstantially that of a new moon. The point la at of Fig. lforms the point I of the finished shoulder pad, while the base 20. of the pattern of Fig. 2 forms the base 2 of the finished pad.

In making the pad two layers of unbleached the top of the pattern is pressed on a form with a damp cloth with the seam on its convex side. The resulting formed shell is then fitted inside the other and the shells are united by stitching approximately along the dotted line designated C in Fig. 5, after which the edges of the inner shell are trimmed away and the assembled pad is pressed on a form once more, making the completed pad. The edges can be pinked if desired.

muslin are first placed between two layers of cotton wadding, then'this assembly is cut with diesinto two blanks using the two patterns of Figs. 1 and 2. One of the outer layers of cotton wadding is removed from the resulting blanks, to

be used in making the bottom ply of the pad. The

three remaining plies of the two blanks, correv sponding in shape to the two patterns, are then machine stitched together in such fashion that the points 8, 9 and Ill coincide with points 8a, 9a and lfla, respectively. The seam should be about inch'in width and should fall on the unbleachedmuslin side. Owing to the d-ifierence in curvature between the two patterns a uniform cupping of thematerial is produced, as indicated in Fig. 6. The resulting combined blank is then shaped by pressing on a form using a damp cloth,

with the muslin layers inside, the blank assum-- ing the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6. A blank is then cut from cotton batting with a thickness of inch, using the pattern of Fig. 3 and another blank from a inch thickness of cotton batting, using the pattern of Fig. 4. The latter blank is centered on the former and the edges of both are frayed so they taper to a thin edge all around, after which the assembly is pressed on a form with a damp cloth to form a filling blank corresponding to plies 1 and Ia of Fig. 6. This filling blank is then'united with the combined blank produced previously. This can be accomplished by coating the inside muslin surface of the combined pad with glue over the shaded area des- Any type of lacquer or glue purpose. A nitrocellulose or found very satisfactory.

can be used for this casein cementhas been 'The filling blank is .then pressed against the freshly glued surface and pressure i applied, with heating if necessary. The two filling layers cover approximately the shaded areas indicated at A and B in Fig. 5. The resulting blank or shell is now ready for application of the bottom lining of cotton batting. v

The bottom lining is produced from the cotton Wedding blanks removed from the first assemblies which were cut over the patterns of Figs. 1 and '2. These two blanks are first sewed together along .of the pad ata distance of about -2 inches from the tip. as hown in Figs. 5 and 6. A snap fas tener I2 is advantageously provided so that the tape can be snapped on over the shoulder strap. The pad shown in section in Fig. '7 is formed from .a resilient plastic, such as sponge rubber. This ismolded to proper shape in a mold and requires no sewing or other operations although, of course, it may be encased in a fabric, if desired.

It will be noted that the concave portion of the base of my shoulder pad is intended to fit over the tip of the shoulder, the point I of the pad pointing towards the neck. It fits the shoulder so well that-there is little if any tendency for the pad to slip out of position. The fastening strap H is convenient, however, to prevent the pad from falling off the shoulder when the garment to be padded is being put on or taken off. After the garment is on, the friction between the antiskid upper surface of the pad and the garment is suflicient to retain it in proper position. It is thus evident that no means is required for attaching the pad to the garment to be padded.

While I have described what I consider to be the best embodiments of my shoulder pads, it is evident of course that many modifications can be made in the selection of materials, in the methods of making and in the structures of my pads without departing from the purview of this invention. While I have described pads made of several plies of fabric materials and pads made of molded sponge rubber or other resilient plastic, it is also possible to combine plies of fabric with plies of plastic materials. My pads may be made without any special casing or covering material or, on the other hand, in the more expensive models the pads may be encased in glove silk, fiannel, rayon or the like. As indicated previously, however, I prefer to have the top of my pad of some type of non-skid material, such as chamoisette, cotton wadding, jersey, mole cloth, foam rubber, felt, flannelette, knitted wide wale cotton cloth, crepe fabrics, piled fabrics and the like, hence if a casing is used, it is advantageous to make it out of such a material, at least on top. At the same time it is advantageous to make the casing, as well as the pad as a whole, of as light weight materials as possible. Any suitable filling materials can be used, including cotton batting, kapok, wool felt, sponge rubber, jute etc. Any suitable stiffening material can be employed, such as crinoline, buckram, tarlatan, muslin and the like. Or if desired, a stiffening ply can be made by coating fabric with a cellulose varnish, lacquer or the like. It is possible to make the pad with a single ply of felt or equivalent which is cut or formed into the required shape, this ply being advantageously encased in some type of fabric. A felt pad requires no special stiffening. The two 8-9-l 0 and 8a9a-l 0a and the resulting shell blanks used in making the shells of my pad can be pads can be varied in size.

combined by cementing the blanks together at their edges, if desired, but it is easier to sew them together. And it is, of course, possible to sew the filling material into the top shell rather than gluing it in position as described above. Casein cement can be used to hold the plies together.

The edges of the point of my pads can be made substantially straight, as in Fig. 5, or somewhat convex. The amount of filling material used can be varied widely in order-to produce pads of different height and thickness. And, of course, the

In fact it is convenient to supply the pads to the trade in different sizes and with varying heights. Other modifications of my invention which fall within the scope of the following claims will be immediately evident to those skilled in this art.

What I claim is:

l. A shoulder pad of concavo-convex form having a rounded base at one end and a point at the other with sides which merge into the base, adapted to fit with the tip of the shoulder in the concavity of the pad and the point of the pad directed towards the base of the neck, said pad having a top-surface of non-skid material and comprising a plurality of laminations at least one of which is of stiffening material and another of filling material, and means secured to the top-surface of the pad for removably attaching the same to a shoulder strap, said pad being adapted to be held on the shoulder solely by its non-skid top-surface, by its concavity and its attachment to said shoulder strap.

2. In the manufacture of shoulder pads the process which comprises cutting two blanks from fabric material substantially in the form of diamonds but having one point rounded slightly, cutting two other blanks substantially in the form of new moon-s, sewing the blanks together in pairs with said rounded points in the centers of the concavities of the moon-shaped blanks, thereby forming two cup shaped shells, afiixing a filling material in the concavity of one of said shells to produce thickness, attaching the other shell to the concave side of the filled shell over the filling material, to form a pad having a concavity adapted to fit the tip of the shoulder, and securing a tape adapted to removably engage a shoulder strap to the convex surface of the so-fcrmed pad.

3. A shoulder pad comprising two blanks of fibrous materials one substantially in the shape of a new moon and the "other in the shape of a diamond with one point rounded, said blanks being combined with the rounded point of the diamond-shaped blank in the center of the concavity of the moon-shaped blank and with adjacent points and edges of both blanks joined to produce a concave-convex form with a smoothly rounded convexity close to a rounded base at one end and a point at the other end, a fastening tape mounted on top of the pad permanently secured at one end and provided at the other end with a detachable fastener, said tape being adapted to removably engage a shoulder strap passing over the top of the pad, said pad being adapted to rest on the shoulder of the wearer with the tip of the shoulder in the concavity of the pad and the point of the pad directed towards the base -of the neck, said pad being free from attachment to the garment which it serves to pad, having a top surface of non-skid material and "being adapted to be held on the shoulder solely by its concavity, its non-skid surface and its attachment to said shoulder strap.

KATHERINE KERRIGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 622,765 Goldman Apr. 11, 1899 2,068,644 Frais Jan. 26, 1937 2,110,951 Frais Mar. 15, 1938 2,162,858 Pankey June 20, 1939 2,273,498 Romaine Feb. 17, 1942 2,274,261 Vogel Feb. 24, 1942 

